Sticking with Chinese first, Yarou could mean 鸭肉 (yāròu), or duck meat. Is that Chinese slang for cotton? No. Thus, I don’t think that was the store owner’s goal.

But then there’s Japanese. The relationship between China and Japan, amigos ’til the end, might have influenced this shop name. The most harmless definition of yarou – やろう (pronounced as ya-rou) – refers to a type of wild yam. Moving on… it’s also slang from the Kansai region of Japan, better known as the location of Osaka. It means “seems like” or “I guess (so).” We’re not making progress yet.

Then there’s 野老, which literally means “field old.” In other words, it’s an elderly man living in a rural area. In other words, what does that have to do with a shop selling women’s clothing? Scratch it off the list.

For the last guess, let’s make it a good one. First things first– why do many of us yearn to learn the bad words in a language before understanding how to utter a sentence? If movies are one of the main sources of language study, should we then be forgiven if certain words are easier to remember simply because they are frequently repeated? But then, are those the only movies/programs available? No, and that’s a topic for another time.

Now, to attempt a relatively smooth transition, the last yarou may be 野郎, which could stand for guy, but more commonly denotes a bastard/s.o.b. If someone with flared nostrils says this to you, duck for cover.

On and off for the last 4 years I have lived in Xiamen for short periods. In the Siming area the Yarou shop has it’s name in 中文。
It was somewhat difficult for me to decipher the first character ya3 = elegant
rou2 = soft， flexible，supple was easier.
雅柔 Perhaps suit me as a 2 character family name with 汤姆 ( tang mu ) for Tom